Combination furnace, fireplace, broiler



Feb. 16, 1965 J. M. AGNESE 3,159,516

COMBINATION FURNACE. FIREPLAGE, BROILER Filed March l5, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5 INVENTOR. JOSEPH MAGNSE ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,169,516 CMBENATEGN FURNACE, FREELACE, .loseph Michael Agnese, 27743 Greenwich St.,

Sanvifrancisco, Calif. Filed Mar. i3, 1963, Ser. No. Zedli?. lli Claims. (Si. R26-) This invention relates generally to a room or house heater, and has for one of its objects the provision of a combination furnace, fireplace, broiler and Irotisserie.

Another object of t e invention is the Vprovision of a combination i'ireplaee and furnace that may be selectively used or in combination, and that is highly eicient when selectively used or in combination.

An additional object of the invention is the provision of a fireplace that rnay be readily installed in houses already built, and that is adapted to provide more eflicient heating than heretofore.

An added object of the invention is the provision of a combination fireplace, broiler and furnace that is economical to inalie and to install, and which combination includes nieans providing a convenient work table around the broiler and other structure that facilitates keeping it clean.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the description and in. the drawings, in which:

FG. l is a perspective View of the combination, certain parts being broken away to show interior structure.

Fl-G. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through the heater of G. l certain parts being shown in elevation and in` broken lines.

FG. 3 is .a slightly reduced, cross sectional View taken along line 3 3 of FIG. 2.

ZG. 4 is a cross sectional view talcen alongv line 4-4 of FlG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a reduced size perspective view of .a work tah-le adapted to be supported on the heater.

FiG. 6 is a slightly modified view of the cap or upperniost portion illustrating one modification where hot air is to be conducted from the heater to different parts of the house.

In the description and claims the invention willbe generally called a heater, inasmuch as it performs that function whether used as a replace, broiler, rotissee or furnace, or any combination thereof.

The wall of a room or building against which the heater is adapted to be installed is generally designated l,'the oor is designated 2, and the ceiling 3 v(FlG. 2). The specific structure of these is immaterial, except that the wall l may be the wall on one side of the studding and the space behind the wall or on the side of wall l opposite to the heater, inay be the wall of another room, inv/hiel; case, the vertical vent line,` designated d, will be between the walls or within the partition. v

A vertical plate 5 issecured against wall 1, which plate may includeconventionaliire insulation between it and the wall, although the said plate merely functions as one wall of a hot air ilue, or conduit. The hot air line or conduit having the plate 5 as one of the walls thereof may* extend from the door 2 substantially to the ceiling 3,` and Y depending flanges 9 alon7 two of its opposite edges may,

be secured over the upperedges of plates 5, 6 with the flanges 9 extending Vover the opposit'ely outwardly facing surfaces oi said plates. However, the uppermost portion of plate oneninf7 ll?" below the ad'acent danse 9 FlG. l These l c c 6 is cut away to forni a horizontally elongatedV ICC lates 5, 6,7 coact todene the walls of a vertical pasageway t3, having a laterally directed outletat the upper end thereoi opening into the room.

The lower end of the plates 6, 7 that form the forward andlateral sides of thepassageway i3 terminate at different distances from the floor, the plates 6 terminating at le (FlG. Z) a substantial distance-.above the lower terminating end of the plate 5, and at a substantid distance below the level at which the side plates or walls 7 terminate. ln planes parallel with walls 7, but equally spaced inwardly from the side edges of the front plate 6, and consequently from plates 7, are a pair ofv spaced pposed walls le. that extend downwardly frorn the point lli at which side plates '7 terminate to thelloor, and which walls le extendA forwardly, or in a` direction away from the front plate 6 at right angles tothe latter. These walls i6 are integral with a forward wall 17 that is of the saine height as walls le and that also extends to base plate i3.

The hase plate extends to and joins the wall plate 5 along the rear edge of plate i3, and is formed with lateral opposed sidewalls i9 and a front wall` 20, that extend tothe iloor 2. The front wall 2li is formed with a horizontally extending opening 23" (FIG. l) .V

From the foregoing description ity will be seen that from the point lwhere the lower edges of the side plates 7 terrninate to the pointV whereV the lower edge of the front plate 6 terminates, a horizontally disposed, rectangular sheet rnetal frame is formed by the lower portion of plate 6 and walls i6, 1'7, the forward wall 17 being opposed to the front wall 6 of the passageway 13.` Also Vit isseen that below this rectangular frame the walls le,

i7 continue" to the base plate liti, and the rear edges of the walls loare spaced from the wall plate 5, thus pro- Y viding laterally directed openings 24 between the rear edges or" the walls i6' andthe wall plate 5, through which openings room air may pass freely into the` lower end of Vpassageway i3 for passage up thelatter and baclg intovthe room through outlet lll.

An irnperforate, horizontal c plate 25 (FIGS. 1, `2) closes the lower end of the rectangular frarne formed by walls le, i7 and the lower portion of the front Vplate 6.

Spaced below the plate 25 and spaced Erorn theV walls le and i7 is the firebox, generally designated 2-6, which iirebox Vhas an imperforate top wall 27 spaced below and parallel w'th plate 2S; a pairof imperforate, parallel sidewalls 2S, an imperforate front wall 29 and anY imperforate rear wall 3d. Said sidewalls, iront wall and rear wall of the iirebox extend to the base plate lli, and the area enclosedby said walls is formed with` air inlet openings 32 (FG. 2).

A conventional burner 34 is positioned withinl the ,rebox Ze, which burner may be connected by a pipe 35 'that is connected with a source of fuel. This pipe 35 preferablyl extends through the rear wall 3l? and may have a valve se that is accessible through eitherof the side openings 24. One or more vents 37 communicate between theupper portionor" the iirebox andthe vent flue and extend across thespace between the rear. wall Si) of the irebox and the wall plate 5hence` are in heatexchange relation to air entering the openingslZ-i and passing up passageway 13.

It may be noted that in the present installation branch pipes '3S from the vent flue 4 project laterally to the surface lof wall 1 and may extend into .pre-formed openings 3 of the firebox fand the bottom Iframe plate 25 for passage to the lower end of the passageway 13.

The lower portion of the forward wall 17 extends across and spaced from the -forward wall 29 of the irebox, and this =wall may be formed with an Opening yclosed by a door 43, which in turn, may be formed with openings 44 that may be opened and closed to any designed degree by a conventional sliding damper manually aotuatable by grasping a knob or handle 45 and moving it to the degree desired for sliding the damper to open or closed position.

Air that may be admitted through the 4opening 44 will, of course, be free to pass over the front and upper sides of the firebox on the way to passageway 13, and to thus be heated to the desired degree for ejection into the room through outlet 10.

The description up to this point is that of the furnace, and it is obvious that the opening 10 may be damper controlled, as is indicated by the damper 46 (FIG. 6) which may be incorporated in the wall 47 of the cap 4S instead of using a cap such as is indicated in FIGS. l, 2. Also, the plates 5, 6 and 7 may be proportioned and formed to carry 4conduit connections or :outlets 49 that are `adapted to connect with air conduits leading to different rooms in a house, each of which may be controlled by a damper t).

The-portion of the heater above the wall 25 carries the fireplace and broiler features, including theV rotisserie.

Slidable on wall 25 or, if desired, on any suitable runners on said Wall, is an ashpan 53 that may be guided between guides 54 for sliding into and out of the rectangular frame portion of the heater through a horizontally elongated opening in the forward wall 17. The front side 55 'of the ashpan will close said opening and the rear wall 56 of the pan will be 'against the plate 6 when said ashpan is fully fwithin said frame portion. Upon partially drawing the ashpan outwardly lthe ashpan opening in the forward plate '17 will be partially opened to assist in providing a draft for the fuel that is supported above lthe pan. A hand `grasping projection 57 on the `front side S5 of the ashpan is provided for manually withdrawing the pan.

IInwardly'projecting members 5S secured against the -walls 6, `18 above the ashpanare 4adapted to support the 'fuel grate 59 thereon. This grate is provided with imperforate marginal portions 69 (FIG-3) and any suitable means, such as bars 63 are adapted to support the fuel thereon, such as wood or charcoal. The marginal portion that is :over the rear wall 56 of the ashpan is sufficiently wide to prevent ashes from falling between wall 56 4and the wall 6 -when :the ashpan is partially withdrawn, ashas been described above.

This `grate is the fireplace grate and it also functions as the grate for the broiler and carries a vertical central post 64 that is threaded at its upper end portion for the threaded central part of an annular grill 65 on which' meat or other food may be broiled or cooked. The grill 65 isrotated toelevate orto lower it,- and itis removed when the heater is used as a fireplace.

kOne of the sidewalls `16 carries a conventional rotisserie motor 66 provided with a chuck to receive one end of'a spit, whilel the opposite wall is recessed to rotatably support the other end of the spit. Obviously, the spit may be' rotatably supported at opposite ends by walls 16 `and manually rotated, if a motor driven spit is not desired. The

spit, and the manner fof supporting and driving it, are allV When Ain position, the rear edges` of the legs of the..U-

shaped table 68 are lagainst the front side or plate 6 of passageway 13,and legs 5) may be stamped downward from the table as at 7G to engage the inner sides `of walls 16 adjacent to the forward wall 17 to properly position the table on said walls and to hold it against accidental dislodgement laterally.

A `horizontally disposed U-shaped screen 73 of screening or perforated metal may be removably supported on its edge on the table 68, with the end edges of the legs of the screen against the plate 6 (FIG. l) when the heater is used :as la fireplace, yor at any time Iwhen there may be danger from sparks.

A hood generally` designated 74 is adapted to be suspended from the lower edge of the outlet yopening 1i) to rest against the `wall or plate 6. This hood has a pair of corresponding triangular opposed sidewalls 75, one of the free edges of which are vertical and against said plate 6. A hood or canopy plate 76 integrally yconnects walls 75 along the edges of said walls that extend slantingly downwardly and outwardly .relative to plate 6, and said hood plate has a reversely bent extension 77 (FIG. 2) along its horizontal upper edge that is adapted to extend through opening 10 tand downwardly inside passageway 13 to function as a hook for suspending the hood from said plate 6.

The remaining two edges of the sidewalls or plates 75 of the hood extend slantingly rearwardly and downwardly from the ends of the lower edge of the hood plate 76 to the plate 6 at points adjacent to but spaced above the table yor platform 68. The ends of screen '73 are adapted to extend between the lowermost ends of side plates or walls 75.

Y In operation las 'a furnace, when the burner within firebox 26 is in operation, the cold room `air is adapted to pass around the frebox in heat transfer relation to the latter, entering through the `openings S4 in door 43 and through inlet 39 and will pass up the passageway 13 and out of outlet 10 into the room. Room air from opposite sides l of the heater is free to enter the lateral openings 24 that are yat the rear of the irebox, and this air will be entrained with the air that has entered through openings 39, 44.

The outlet 16 and inlet openings 44 may, as already indicated, be damper controlled, and when air ducts or conduits 49 are connected with the upper end of passageway 13, these may be damper controlled, las indicated, to divert the air to different rooms, as desired, yor to close them so the -air will be discharged into the room in which the heater is positioned.

When the heater is used as a fireplace, the fuel will be burned on grate 59, and the wall 6 will receive heat from the fireplace lfuel and wall 25 lof the air duct 4t) will also receive heat, therefore, room air will be induced to ilow through passageway y13 in heat transfer relation to said walls, and into the room. Furthermore, plate 76 will be heated from .the burning material in the fireplace and this heat will be dissipated into the room to heat the air therein. Thesame heating of roorn air will occur when the heater Iis used as a broiler- In its broadest aspect, from a structural standpoint, a vertically extending air passageway is provided, having lateral walls with relatively high heat conducting properties, such as metal, and these Walls, such as walls 6, 7, are adapted kto project into the room so as to be in direct heat transfer lrelation to the room air. An air inlet is at the lower end of the passageway to admit room air into the latter, and an outlet is at the upper end to discharge the air into the room. Preferably the inlet is adjacent to the oor of the room and the outlet adjacent to the ceiling. Y

A shell or housing formed by lateral walls 16, 17 that is open at its upper end is offset to one side of the vertically extending passageway, and =a horizontal wall 25 divides` this shell or housing into an upper fireplace and broiler section-and into a lower rebox section with a horizontal passageway between them communicating with room air at one end and with said vertically extendextending passageway at about the point where the horizontally extending passageway opens into the lower end of said vertically extending passageway for entrainment with air heated in passing through the horizontally extending passageway. The hood '74 over the shell gets ,heat from within the housing or shell since it is oiiset to the same side as the shell, andV one sidewall of the vertical passageway 13 closes one side of the hood.

it should also be noted that the `products of combustion from both thefireboxandthe replace and broiler section are enclosed in pipes or lines that cross the passageway through which the room air passes, hence, the

air extracts or picks up heat from these nues.

This is the basic structure. The ashpan, grill and rotisserie, 'are additions and parts of the iireplace or broiler section. Y

It is to be understood that the entire unit, including the wall plate 5, isV portable, the same as an electrical refrigerator, and other appliances. The vent ue 4 may be spaced within the passageway 13 and connected with a chimney flue or the like in the same manner as a stovepipe, and one or more conventional thermostatically actuated draft inducing electric fans may be positioned in the rear of the'rebox upon the air around the tire- `box being heated by commencement of the burner. These are conventional features in connection with furnaces and the like, and are well known to those skilled in the art.

Although the invention has beenV described and illustrated in detail, it is obvious that. modifications may be made thereinwithin the scopeof the annexed claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

l claim:

l. A heater adapted to provide a furnace and a tireplace within a room in a house, comprising:

(a) a vertically extending passageway having an inlet for room air -adjacent to its lower end and an outlet forV said air at its upper end;

(b) a housing of sheet metal extending forwardly `from said passageway/,having lateral sidewalls, front Vand rear walls, and an open top;

(c) a horizontal, imperforate wall withinsaid housing intermediate the open top and lower end thereof extending to said lateral sidewalls and front and rear walls dividing it into an upper fireplace and broiler section and a lower rehox section;

(d) a lirebox in said rebox section having heating means therein and also having an imperforate top wall spaced below said horizontal wall to provide a passageway for air between them;V v

(e)V said front wall of said housing being formed with an opening at a point remote from said inlet, cornmunicating with said Vlast mentioned passageway for (g) a 'hoodspaced above 'the upper open end of saidV housing opening downwardlytor receivinggtherein heat and the products of combustion from said iireplace section;

(h) at least one metal hue opening at one end to within the upper portion of said hood and extending across saidvertically extending passageway for passage of air in said vertically extending passageway past said flue in heat exchange relation thereto.

3. in a heater as defined in claim 2: Y

(i) a discharge'iiue extending fromsaid iirebox acrossV said inlet for passage of room air thereover and into said vertically extendingpassageway in heat transfer relation to said discharge ue. 4. A heater adapted to provide a furnace and a fireplace and broiler, comprising:

(a) housing having lateral sidewalls, a front wall and a rear wall, and an open top;

(b) a pair of horizontally disposed, vertically spaced plates within said housing intermediate its upper and lower ends deiining opposite walls of a horizontally extending passageway for air between said spaced plates and dividing said housing into a iireplace and broiler section above the upper of said pair of plates and a rebox below the lower of said pair of plates; (c) said front wall of said housing being formed with an opening for admitting room air to` said passagewayA andan outlet in the back of said housing opposite to said opening for discharge of air from said passageway; (d) a vertically extending passageway at one side of said housing having an inlet at its lower end in com- Vniunication with said outlet, and a discharge opening at its upper end for discharge of air therein back into the room in which said heater is adapted to be positioned; (e) a base plate on Vwhich said housing is supported including means for supporting said base plate and Vhousing elevated above a floor;

(f) said base plate being formed with openings for` admission of air into said tirebox, and a discharge flue `at the upper end of said irebox for discharge o products of combustion therefrom; v

(g) a horizontal grate within said iireplace and broiler section;

(h) means carried by said housing removably supporting said grate spaced above the upper plate or" said pair;

(i) a horizontally disposed ashpan slidably supported between said upper plate of said pair and said grate for removal from one of the sides of saidv housing and an opening formed in said one of said sides through which said ashpan is removable; (j) saidgrateincluding `a horizontally disposed im Y perforate marginal portion extending over said ashpanalong the portion of said pan that is oppositeto said ,last mentioned opening to prevent ashes on said grate from falling behind said pan when the latter is partially drawn out of said opening to admit draft i air to said grate. Y

5. In aV heater as defined in claim 4:

V(j) a vertical post on said grate extending upwardly therefrom and lthreaded at its upper end;

(k) a horizontal grill threadediy snpported by the i threads on said post for supporting food to be cooked at diderent distances above said grill.

6. In a heater as defined in claim 5:

(l) a hood suspended from one of the walls of said vertically extending passageway in a position over the open top of said housing for receiving the products or combustion from burning material-on said grate and for receiving the yfumes from food on said grill. Y

7. A heater adapted to provide a furnace and fireplace within la room, comprising: v

(a) a vertically extending passageway for airhaving `walls of healtrtransferV material adapted to be in di-v y rect heat transfer relation with the airinsaid room;

(b) a tirebox at the lower end of said passageway extending forwardly from one side thereof, and having heating means therein;

(c) a horizontal extending passageway for air extending across the top of said iirebox in communication with the lower end of said vertically extending passageway at one of its ends and in communication with outside room air at its opposite end;Y

(d) laterally oppositely outwardly opening inlets at the lower end of said vertically extending passageway in communication with the lower end of the latter adjacent to the point at which said horizontally extending passageway is in communication with said vertically extending passageway for admitting air into the lower end of said vertically extending passageway for entrainment with heated air from said horizontally extending passageway.

8. In a heater as defined in claim 7:

(e) an outlet at the upper end of said passageway adapted to open directly into the room in which said heater is adapted to he positioned.

9. n a heater as defined in claim 8:

(f) a horizontally disposed replace grate above said horizontally disposed passageway adapted to support fuel to be burned therein;

(g) lateral, vertically disposed sheet metal walls including one of the walls of said vertically extending passageway enclosing said grate whereby said one of the walls ot' said passageway will be heated by such fuel; t

(h) sheet metal walls spaced above said grate deiining the sides of a generally vertically extending passageway for the products of combustion from said fuel on said grate, one of which walls is one of the walls of said vertically extending passageway.

l0. In a room having a sidewall and a vertically extending ue thereon for conducting away the products s of combustion:

(a) an upper and a lower branch conduit vertically spaced apart and communicating with the interior of said flue at one of their ends and opening into said room at their opposite ends at points approximately even with the inner surface of said wall that faces into said room;

(b) a vertically elongated metal wall plate secured against said inner surface formed with openings in and parallel relation to said wall'plate extending upwardly from said housing with said rear wall being a downward continuation of said front plate;- (e) opposed side plates along two opposite edges of said vertically disposed'front plate and integral with the latter extending to said wall plate whereby said wall plate, vertically disposed front plate and said side plates define a vertically extending passageway;

(f) said rebox section including a iirebox having heating means therein;

(g) a discharge tiue connected with and projecting from said irebox into the lower of said branch conduits for conducting the products of combustion from said rebox into said vertically extending flue;

(h) a closure over the upper end of said vertically extending passageway;

(i) an outlet formed in said vertically disposed' front plate adjacent to its upper endhaving a lower edge, said outlet opening into said room;

(j) a hood having three adjoining walls one wall thereof extending slantingly outwardly and downwardly from said lower edge of said outlet and the other -two walls being in spaced opposed relation extending to said vertically disposed front plate;

(k) means on said one wall extending over said lower edge of said outlet suspending said hood from said edge in a position extending over the open top of saidV housing;

(I) a horizontally disposed discharge flue extending into said upper of said branchconduits at one end thereof and opening at its opposite end into the space between said one Wall of said hood and said front plate for conducting the products of combustion and fumes from within said hood to said vertically extending liuc;

(m) a grate supported within said fireplace section spaced above said horizontal plate Afor supporting fuel to be burned therein; and,

(n) a horizontally disposed air. passageway between said tirebox and said horizontal plate communicating at one end thereof with said vertically extending passageway and communicating at its opposite end with the room air for conducting room air to said vertically extending passageway along a path below said grate and above said irebox.

References Cited by the Examiner `UNITED STATES PATENTSA 141,771 8/73 Duerstock 126-6 498,826 6/93 Tilden 126--111 2,104,096 1/38 Paradise 126-111 X 2,642,859 6/53 Brown 1267-121 5D JAMES W. WESTHAVER, Primary Examiner. 

1. A HEATER ADAPTED TO PROVIDE A FURNACE AND A FIREPLACE WITHIN A ROOM IN A HOUSE, COMPRISING: (A) A VERTICALLY EXTENDING PASSAGEWAY HAVING AN INLET FOR ROOM AIR ADJACENT TO ITS LOWER END AND AN OUTLET FOR SAID AIR AT ITS UPPER END; (B) A HOUSING OF SHEET METAL EXTENDING FORWARDLY FROM SAID PASSAGEWAY HAVING LATERAL SIDEWALLS, FRONT AND REAR WALLS, AND AN OPEN TOP; (C) A HORIZONTAL, IMPERFORATE WALL WITHIN SAID HOUSING INTERMEDIATE THE OPEN TOP AND LOWER END THEREOF EXTENDING TO SAID LATERAL SIDEWALLS AND FRONT AND REAR WALLS DIVIDING IT INTO AN UPPER FIREPLACE AND BROILER SECTION AND A LOWER FIREBOX SECTION; (D) A FIREBOX IN SAID FIREBOX SECTION HAVING HEATING MEANS THEREIN AND ALSO HAVING AN IMPERFORATE TOP WALL SPACED BELOW SAID HORIZONTAL WALL TO PROVIDE A PASSAGEWAY FOR AIR BETWEEN THEM; (E) SAID FRONT WALL OF SAID HOUSING BEING FORMED WITH AN OPENING AT A POINT REMOTE FROM SAID INLET, COMCOMMUNICATING WITH SAID LAST MENTIONED PASSAGEWAY FOR ADMITTING ROOM AIR TO SAID LAST MENTIONED PASSAGEWAY, SAID LAST MENTIONED PASSAGEWAY TERMINATING 